GAZA: It is not only the ever-present danger from Israeli bombardment or ground fighting that makes life a trial for Gaza’s Palestinian civilians. It is also the sheer daily slog to find bare necessities such as water, to drink or cook or wash with.
For the Shenbary family, that can be a walk of 90 minutes, jerry cans at the ready, in the hope of finding a makeshift distribution point among the mounds of grey, dusty rubble of the Jabalia urban refugee camp in northern Gaza.
“Now that Jabalia has all been bulldozed, all the wells are bulldozed with it. There’s not a single water well left,” family father Ahmed Al-Shenbary said last Saturday. “Water is a big tragedy in Jabalia.”
The war started on Oct. 7 when Hamas, the group ruling Gaza, killed 1,200 people in Israel, according to Israeli tallies, and took another 250 or so to hold as hostages in Gaza, one of the most crowded places on earth.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has not only killed more than 37,000 people but created a humanitarian crisis with shortages of food, fuel and medicine as well as water in a territory whose housing and infrastructure is now little more than rubble.
“Children and their families are having to use water from unsafe sources that are highly salinated or polluted,” said Catherine Russell, executive director of the UN children’s fund UNICEF.
“Without safe water, many more children will die from deprivation and disease in the coming days.”
People have dug wells in bleak areas near the sea where the bombing has pushed them, or rely on salty tap water from Gaza’s only aquifer, now contaminated with seawater and sewage.
Children walk long distances to line up at makeshift water collection points. Often not strong enough to carry the filled containers, they drag them home on wooden boards.
“As you see, we bathe our children in a small basin. It’s water from washing dishes, not clean water, because of the water shortages,” said Ahmed’s wife Fatima.
She bathes her son on the floor in the concrete shell of a wrecked school that now passes for their latest home after several forced relocations.
“We have hepatitis, which causes yellowing of the eyes,” she said. “We also have intestinal infections — not just me but the whole school ... Even ‘filtered water’ isn’t really filtered. We fool ourselves and pretend.”
Gaza families desperate for water with no relief in sight
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Gaza families desperate for water with no relief in sight
- Israel’s retaliatory offensive has not only killed more than 37,000 people but created a humanitarian crisis with shortages of food, fuel and medicine as well as water
One killed in Syria clashes near Damascus
Jaramana’s Druze said in a statement that they would “withdraw protection from all offenders and outlaws“
BEIRUT: Clashes between forces affiliated with the Syrian Arab Republic’s new rulers and local gunmen from the minority Druze community killed one person and wounded nine near Damascus on Saturday, a monitor said.
Since Islamist-led rebels in December overthrew longtime repressive ruler Bashar Assad, clashes and shootings have occurred in several areas, with security officials accusing armed supporters of the previous government.
Saturday’s incident occurred in Jaramana, a densely populated suburb near Damascus that is home to a majority of Druze and Christian minority residents.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that “one person was killed and nine others from Jaramana were injured during clashes between security forces affiliated with the new authority and local gunmen tasked with protecting the area.”
It could not specify whether the killed person was a civilian or a local fighter.
Tensions began on Friday when a dispute led to the killing of one security forces member and the wounding of another in a shooting at a checkpoint in Jaramana, according to the Observatory.
Syria’s official news agency, SANA, quoted Col. Hossam Al-Tahhan, the local head of security, as saying the checkpoint had stopped Ministry of Defense personnel as they entered the area to visit their relatives.
After surrendering their weapons they were assaulted and “their vehicle was directly targeted by gunfire,” resulting in the casualties, Tahhan said.
He warned such incidents could have repercussions on “Syria’s security, stability, and unity.”
Jaramana’s Druze said in a statement that they would “withdraw protection from all offenders and outlaws” and pledged to hand over anyone proven responsible to “the relevant authorities to face justice.”
Restoring and maintaining security across Syria remains one of the most pressing challenges for interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, following about 13 years of civil war.
The Druze, who also live in Lebanon, Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, make up about three percent of Syria’s population.
They largely stayed on the sidelines of the civil war.
Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham Islamist group led the offensive against Assad. The group has its roots in Syria’s former Al-Qaeda affiliate, and is proscribed as a terrorist organization by many governments including the United States.
HTS has moderated its rhetoric and vowed to protect Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities.
Israeli defense minister Israel Katz on Saturday warned Syria’s new rulers not “to harm the Druze,” adding the military has been ordered “to prepare and to send a firm and clear warning: if the regime harms the Druze, it will suffer the consequences.”
His comment came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last Sunday demanded “the complete demilitarization of southern Syria” including Sweida province where Druze Arabs predominate.
The same day Assad was ousted, Israel announced its troops were entering a UN-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights.
Swiss to host conference on occupied Palestinian territories
- The first phase of the Israel-Hamas truce was drawing to a close on Saturday, but negotiations on the next stage, which should secure a permanent ceasefire, have so far been inconclusive
GENEVA: Switzerland said it will host an international conference on March 7 on the protection of Palestinian civilians in the occupied territories, as called for in a UN vote.
The 196 signatories to the Geneva Convention will be invited to the meeting, which will be attended by ambassadors, a spokesperson for the Swiss foreign ministry said.
On Sept. 18, the UN General Assembly mandated Switzerland to organize the conference, given that the Alpine country is the depository of the international treaties setting out the rules of war and humanitarian law.
Such “conferences of high contracting parties” cannot take binding decisions but can “reaffirm the rules of international humanitarian law and the obligations,” the Swiss government says on its website.
BACKGROUND
Israeli settlers have stepped up their attacks on Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank, while the army has launched a major security operation that has displaced some 40,000 Palestinians.
Since the UN vote and after 15 months of intensive war, a tenuous ceasefire was agreed upon in the Gaza Strip in January that allowed for the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners and for humanitarian aid to reach the besieged enclave, where 90 percent of housing has been destroyed by Israeli bombardment.
Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, Israeli settlers have stepped up their attacks on Palestinian civilians,
while the Israeli army has launched a major security operation that has displaced some 40,000 Palestinians.
The Gaza war began after the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally of official Israeli figures.
The Israeli retaliation has killed more than 48,000 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the UN has deemed reliable.
The first phase of the Israel-Hamas truce was drawing to a close on Saturday, but negotiations on the next stage, which should secure a permanent ceasefire, have so far been inconclusive.
The ceasefire took effect on Jan. 19 after more than 15 months of war.
Lebanon orders urgent hospital checks in border areas hit by Israeli offensive
- Lebanese ‘repeatedly face arduous task of reconstruction,’ grand mufti says in Ramadan message
- President Joseph Aoun to visit Saudi Arabia, Egypt on first foreign visit since election
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Health Minister, Rakan Nasser Al-Din, announced on Saturday a comprehensive assessment of hospital needs in border areas that suffered significant damage during the recent Israeli offensive.
Al-Din traveled to the south on his first mission following the confidence vote in parliament for the government of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.
He inspected several hospitals in the border area that were badly damaged during the recent Israeli offensive.
During a visit to Mays Al-Jabal Governmental Hospital, Al-Din said he wanted to see the extensive destruction caused by the brutal aggression that Lebanon has faced.
FASTFACT
Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian hoped that ‘next Ramadan, we will witness the establishment of the state of Palestine, thanks to the perseverance and struggle of its people and the consensus of Arabs and Muslims on renewing the experience of a free and sovereign national state.’
The minister highlighted the need to provide support and assistance, saying that the will to endure cannot be strengthened without aiding hospitals, particularly those in border areas.
Al-Din also visited hospitals in Bint Jbeil, Salah Ghandour, and Tebnine.
He told workers and activists in the towns that the government is committed to rebuilding and restoring all infrastructure, particularly health facilities.
“This will involve exploring avenues for reconstruction, enhancing medication availability, improving health care mechanisms, and strengthening human resources to ensure the effective operation of hospitals,” he said.
Lebanon’s “great ordeal is its repeated need, every decade or two, for reconstruction,” Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian said in his Ramadan message.
“We have tens of thousands of citizens who have lost their loved ones, their homes, or their villages.
“And there is no reconstruction without reform — not only because of resource-related challenges but because reform ensures that rebuilding and development are sustainable.
“Over two decades, we have seen how corruption destroyed the reconstruction and development efforts.”
Derian also referred to “the calamities and hardships facing Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Iraq, and the wider Arab world.”
He said that “one of the first signs of change is the downfall of those responsible for the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, along with the deaths of hundreds of Lebanese and tens of thousands of Syrians.
“This dark cloud over Lebanon and Syria has been lifted all at once,” he said.
Derian added: “We know the difficulties are great and numerous.”
He hoped that “next Ramadan, we will witness the establishment of the state of Palestine, thanks to the perseverance and struggle of its people and the consensus of Arabs and Muslims on renewing the experience of a free and sovereign national state.”
Derian reflected on Saudi Founding Day, which was celebrated in an atmosphere of security and prosperity.
He said even the Americans and Russians found no better place to meet than Saudi Arabia, which plays a significant global role for itself, as well as for Arabs and Muslims.
The grand mufti’s message came as Lebanese President Joseph Aoun prepares to undertake his first foreign visit on Monday after being elected president.
Saudi Arabia will be his first destination, with Foreign Affairs Minister Youssef Rajji accompanying him.
According to the Presidential Palace, Aoun will meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman before heading to Cairo to take part in the emergency Arab Summit on the rebuilding of Gaza.
A source at the presidential palace told Arab News that “this is not an official visit to Saudi Arabia but a response to the crown prince’s invitation to visit the Kingdom.”
No agreements will be signed during the visit, said the source.
According to the source, other ministers will accompany Aoun on a later visit to sign agreements and protocols to strengthen cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Lebanon.
Aoun congratulated Lebanon’s Muslims on the arrival of Ramadan, which coincides with the beginning of Lent for Christians on Monday.
“This allows Lebanese of all religions to share the spiritual values embodied by fasting,” he said.
The grand mufti also said that the president’s election and inauguration provided Lebanon with opportunities for relief and recovery, including the possibility of peace in the south, the restoration of state authority over its territory, and the enhancement of relations with neighboring Arab nations and the international community.
“Now that the government has gained the confidence of parliament, it is entering a phase of follow-up and testing.
“This is intended to demonstrate to the Lebanese people, as well as to Arab and international public opinion, that the Lebanese state alone has the authority to make decisions on its territory.
“It alone shapes its relations with its Arab brothers and the rest of its friends,” said Derian.
Israel says ‘will not be deterred’ after Hamas issues hostage video
- The three-minute video shows the emotional farewell between Israeli-Argentinian Yair Horn and his brother Eitan
- In the video, Eitan Horn relays a message from Hamas urging the Israeli government to “sign the second phase of the (ceasefire) deal and return us home“
JERUSALEM: The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed as “Hamas propaganda” Saturday footage released by the Palestinian militant group showing what appeared to be Israeli hostages in Gaza.
“The Hamas terrorist organization has, this evening, disseminated another cruel propaganda video in which our hostages are forced to engage in psychological warfare,” Netanyahu’s office said.
The release of the footage by Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, came as the first stage of the Gaza ceasefire which took effect on January 19 was due to expire on Saturday with no clarity about what happens next.
The three-minute video shows the emotional farewell between Israeli-Argentinian Yair Horn and his brother Eitan, suggesting that it was filmed shortly before Yair’s release on February 15.
In the video, Eitan Horn relays a message from Hamas urging the Israeli government to “sign the second phase of the (ceasefire) deal and return us home.”
“Get everyone out and do not separate families,” he says.
The footage is accompanied by a message from Hamas reading: “Only a ceasefire agreement brings them back alive.”
It is followed by ticking sounds and an image of an egg timer with the message: “Time is running out.”
In a statement after the video’s release, Netanyahu’s office said: “Israel will not be deterred by Hamas propaganda.
“We will continue to act relentlessly for the return of all of our hostages and until all objectives of the war are met.”
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, an Israeli group that campaigns for the release of all captives from Gaza, said the Horn family had given its permission for the footage of the two brothers to be published.
“It breaks our heart to see Eitan in this difficult situation, saying goodbye to his brother, (Y)air, who is being freed while Eitan remains held in Hamas hell for 512 days now,” the Horn family said in a statement.
“We demand from the decision-makers: Look Eitan in the eyes. Don’t stop the agreement that has already brought dozens of hostages back to us. They are running out of time! Bring everyone home, now, in one phase.”
Hamas has offered to release all remaining hostages in one go in a second phase of the ceasefire. Israel has called for releases to continue in batches in an extension of the first stage of the ceasefire that has been rejected by the militant group.
UN chief warns return to war in Gaza would be ‘catastrophic’
- Guterres said a “permanent ceasefire and the release of all hostages are essential to preventing escalation”
UNITED NATIONS: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday warned against a return to hostilities in war-torn Gaza, saying such an outcome would be “catastrophic.”
As the first phase of the Israel-Hamas truce agreement drew to a close with uncertainty over the next steps, Guterres said in a statement that a “permanent ceasefire and the release of all hostages are essential to preventing escalation and averting more devastating consequences for civilians.”
